Product Reviews Written by dfbldwn

Received this pen three days ago. Jet Pens priced this pen very competitively
and their free delivery was fast and accurate. This pen has the same high
quality, from nib tip to clip my previously purchased solid color Prera pens
did. Box included both a converter (clear corkscrew type, not the squeeze-bag)
and an ink cartridge, which was very nice.

I regret buying this pen. The <M> medium nib writes much broader that the
previous medium nib solid color Prera pens I've bought from JetPens.com so Pilot
has really confused me. I don't know whether or not to purchase a <F> fine
point, because I don't know if Pilot has changed that nib as well. JetPens.com
has great descriptions and photos for all their products. I just wish Pilot had
made this change in nib public before I spent the money.

Thank you JetPens, but goodbye Pilot. I've about had it with your company.

I have the piston-fill Noodler's Ink pen and have come to prefer it over this
one, mostly because my smaller hand finds the diminutive Pilot Prera quite
comfortable and by no means too small, so this pen is a bit large for comfort.

This pen is my first ebonite pen and I fully agree with all the positive things
previous reviewers said.

The underside of this stainless steel nib has "ERO 1" stamped into it. That was
the name of a popular gold nib before World War II.

Anticipating bad luck converting this to an eyedropper pen (see Platinum Preppy)
I was delighted to discover a Pilot cartridge fits perfectly, after you first
remove the squeeze bag ("sac") completely.

The Pilot cartridge fits snugly, but not nearly as snugly as it does in Pilot
Pens, so as an extra measure of safety, I wrap it with one wrap of scotch tape
to secure the cartridge to the nib section for those times when I drop the pen,
or hurl it at a cat.

But for what it is, and the price they ask, it has become my go-to pen.
Particularly if things might get a bit rough. The pen has been so reliable that
the (slowly fading) infamous smell has become a source of comfort.

The feed is not elegant, but it is very robust and quite reliable. The nib's
line can be adjusted. When it arrived, it wrote too wet and large a line for my
taste, so I removed nib and feed and reinserted them so that the nib extended
further beyond the tip of the feed and the feed was not inserted as deeply into
the section. There is room here for fine tuning that other pens don't offer.

I have a pressure test that causes most pens to blurp large drops of ink while
I'm trying to write. Only this pen and an old Sheaffer have ever passed that
test.

Using the instructions on a Youtube video entitled "Noodler's Ink piston filler
repair/restoration" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooiu2r3zHWc&feature=related)
I removed the piston, wrapped the threads of the endcap with 3 wraps of Teflon
tape (PTFE Thread Seal Tape MIL SPEC T-27730A) and screwed the endcap back into
the pen. This gives me an eyedropper pen capable of holding over 2mL of ink that
can be filled by removing the nib+feed and filling from there.

I plugged the small vent hole in the side of the cap with wood glue, eliminating
the nib drying out.

I anticipated that this slender pen would cause me to cramp my hand gripping it.
The opposite happened. It is easier for me to avoid clenching this pen with a
Death Grip than with any other pen.

1) An outstanding fine point, perfect for making quick notes in margins or short
entries in my journal. I didn't know such a combination of fine line and smooth
consistent flow to paper was technically possible. This nib seems incapable of
skipping. Unlike the _EF_ nib in the Penmanship, which seems better suited for
finest detail and drawing, this nib can still be used for writing.

2) Maintains a fine line even on poorer paper, including newspaper crosswords,
when using Noodler's Black (warning: non-zero Nib Creep with this ink).

3) I even use it in handwriting practice as the finer line reveals errors in
letter shape that were (ahem) hidden using edged nibs or normally tip'd nibs.

4) I received it on 25 Oct 2010 and it came with two cartridges and one CON-20
converter.

5) Actual color is quite close to that of the last photograph showing pen and
cap adjacent to it.

1) Cap has magnets in it. Strong ones. They may be stronger than the magnets in
earphones.

I'll be keeping this pen's cap a safe distance from camera memory cards, plug-in
flashdrives, ipods and other electronic devices.

2) Nib writes smoother than butter or cream, with a line consistency so perfect
that I sometimes find it eerie and unreal. Even writes upside down for an even
finer line, with excellent smoothness and consistency. People hoping for nonzero
"tooth" in their fountain pen nib are advised to look elsewhere.

3) Pilot _M_ nib is as fine as any Sheaffer or Parker fine point, if not finer.
Pilot _EF_ nib that comes with the Penmanship pen, is too fine for me to use in
normal writing, or even for marginal notes. Pilot _M_ edged nib that comes with
the Plumix writes fine enough for calligraphy with an individual letter's body
height ranging from 2.5mm to 3mm.

4) Did not give it 5 stars because, while I love Pilot cartridges and nibs,
their nib feeds (the part underneath the metal nib) are prissy little beasts,
particularly when using non-Pilot inks (e.g. Pelikan Fount India or any
Noodler's). The feeds either don't flow at all, or blurp drops of ink out onto
my paper. Tiny air bubbles can completely block ink flow thru the fool feed and
I can only get rid of them by tapping the pen repeatedly with nib upright. I put
Noodler's Black in the Pilot cartridges and have better luck when I put a drop
of ink into the back of the nib, to sort of prime the nib with ink, before
installing a filled cartridge.

I only recommend Pilot converters to people on whom I wish a life of aggravation
and inconvenience.